Shot largely on location in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Sidney Hayers' "Payroll" is a remarkably good British heist movie dealing, not just with a robbery, but with dishonour amongst thieves. It's not quite "The Asphalt Jungle" or "Rififi" but it's an outstanding example of its kind with a first-rate script by George Baxt, excellent cinematography from Ernest Steward and sterling direction from Hayers. It's also got a great cast that includes Michael Craig, Tom Bell, Billie Whitelaw (superb), Kenneth Griffith and the French actress Francoise Prevost while the robbery itself is brilliantly handled, if only by the film-makers and not the robbers. Something of a small genre classic.

Producer: Norman Priggen. A Julian Wintle—Leslie Parkyn Production, presented by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy. Copyright 25 May 1962 by Lynx Films. U.S. release through Allied Artists: June 1962. New York opening (on the lower half of a double bill with Day of the Triffids) at neighborhood theaters: 10 May 1963. U.K. release through Anglo Amalgamated: 21 May 1961. Australian release (if any): Not recorded. 9,450 feet. 105 minutes. Cut to 94 and then 80 minutes in U.S.A. SYNOPSIS: Harry Parker (William Peacock) and his wife Jackie (Billie Whitelaw) have a couple of kids, are happy and are getting along fine. The future looks bright, for Harry and his partner Moore (Glyn Houston) have got the contract to carry the weekly payroll of a large company in their new, bandit-proof car — a security assignment that could lead to many more for the new two-man business. This news comes as a shock to handsome Johnny Mellors (Michael Craig). For months he has, with the help of a weak company employee, Dennis Pearson (William Lucas), tailed and timed the old car that used to do the wages run. And that's time well spent when the payroll in question is £100,000 a week.Despite the armored car, Johnny is not going to let go of the prize. His plan to grab this fortune in notes is simple and bold.COMMENT: (On the full DVD version from Optimum): They took 25 minutes out for the U.S. release and it's hard to imagine where they got this amount of slack footage from. True, Miss Prevost is somewhat lacking in color and glamour and undoubtedly some of her scenes could go without being missed, but otherwise this is a compact and excitingly staged, if predictably plotted crime melodrama, with the advantage of appropriately atmospheric actual locations in grimy Newcastle. It's competently acted, though William Lucas rather overdoes his part as a nervous clerk and Miss Whitelaw is neither photographed nor costumed to her advantage. The direction is at its best in the action spots, though sharp film editing increases the tempo of the film whenever things seem to be slowing down. And at least Mr. Craig is much less wooden than usual.

Payroll is directed by Sidney Hayers and adapted to screenplay by George Baxt from the novel written by Derek Bickerton. It stars Michael Craig, Françoise Prévost, Billie Whitelaw, William Lucas, Kenneth Griffith, Tom Bell and Barry Keegan. Music is by Reg Owen and cinematography by Ernest Steward. A vicious gang of crooks raid an armoured van carrying the wages of the local factory. When all doesn't go to plan and the driver of the van is killed, the gang start to come apart from within, just as the police and a vengeful widow close in on them... As tough as old boots! Out of Beaconsfield Studios, Payroll is the kind of British neo-noir that is adored by those that have seen it and yet it still remains a sleeper. Set up in the North East of England in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, there's a real sense of working class struggle pulsing through the picture. The character dynamics at work are nothing new in the history of the heist gone wrong movie, but the makers here insert two ladies into the equation and let them be prominent antagonists, and with some conviction as well. Time is afforded build up of characters, letting us into home lives and the planning of the crime, and then bam! It's the robbery and it pulls no punches. Story is not without violence, and murders are coldly executed, and as the band of thieves begin to crack, led by ice cold scumbag Johnny Mellors (Craig), director Hayers puts them into a world of grim alleyways, terrace houses, back street pubs, sweat stained garages, marshy bogs and an imposing dockside ripe for a denouement. The mood is firmly set at fatalistic realism, and as Hayers tightens the noose around the dwindling gang of thieves, and Reg Owen's jazzy score flits around the drama (love that ominous double bass), we are led to a wholly satisfactory conclusion. Cast are great, especially the wonderful Whitelaw, and Steward's photography is crisp and on the money. 8/10 Footnote: Some scenes were filmed in Rugby, Warwickshire, so it's not exclusively on location in Newcastle. And of course as any Geordie will tell you, there's a distinct lack of Geordie accents in the picture.

Every so often an unknown film comes along to sweep you off your feet. I absolutely loved 'Payroll (1961)'; I found it gripping and thrilling and everything that a good noir should be. I've always been particularly impressed with British takes on the style ('Brighton Rock (1947)'; 'Odd Man Out (1947)'; 'Night and the City (1950)'), perhaps due to the frequent use of on-location photography, which gives the story a refreshingly gritty edge. Sidney Hayers' 'Payroll' was shot on the blustery streets of Newcastle. Johnny Mellors (Michael Craig) heads a ragtag group of criminals intent on hijacking the wage delivery of a local factory, contained within the walls of a seemingly impenetrable armoured truck. Their approach isn't exactly subtle – a far cry from the breathless heists of 'The Asphalt Jungle (1950)' and 'Rififi (1955)' – but is nevertheless effective.Post-robbery, with the heat of law enforcement on their backs, the crooks begin to turn on each other, their best-laid plans delicately curling into ashes. While the police scramble about for leads, Jackie Parker (Billie Whitelaw)– the wife of a man killed during the heist – decides to take matters into her own hands. The film thankfully doesn't overplay this angle (which always has the potential to become an outing with Miss Marple), but there's one adroit scene where, strolling past the home of one of the heist participants, Jackie suddenly puts all the pieces together: a man drops a wife home, followed shortly thereafter by another man… the husband. With its gritty, unsympathetic realism, and a flair for taut, fatalistic storytelling, 'Payroll' deserves a far wider audience, and certainly ranks up there with the best of British film noir.